Black & White, Red & Blue
by Parvati 4th
Summary: Ichigo still has some problems with his innerhollow even after all the vizards' training, but it seems like Ishida is willing to help him. Are they finally friends? [IchiUri]yaoi


**Title:** Black & White, Red & Blue  
**Author:** Paï  
**Word Count:** 11,391  
**Pairings:** Ichigo/Ishida, slight one-sided Hichigo/Ichigo  
**Rating:** NC-17  
**Warnings:** English is not my native language! Swearing, lemon lime boysex whatever you want!!  
**Disclaimer:** If I owned Bleach, it would have been a yaoi manga! XDDD _The Wounded Sword and the Ice Arrow_, however, is my brainchild!

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Ichigo was lying on his bed, thinking about his school day. It had been a day like any other, with boring lessons, but at least he could be with his friends. When all the Shinigamis had been there, it had been even funnier, even if he would never admit it out loud. Now, they were back to normal, and only Keigo's usual stupidity and Orihime's usual loudness somewhat brightened up everyone's mood. Ishida was back too, more Quincier than ever: back to full power, back to bicker with Ichigo as usual. Ichigo somehow thought that he had missed these moments in which they would yell at each other for nothing in particular. But that again, he would never admit it out loud. The Quincy had his pride, but Ichigo had his own too.

Something tugged at his stomach when he thought about the boy; Ishida seemed to be a bit more at peace now he had regained his powers, but Ichigo still had some problems with his Hollow. He had fought him, and he had won, but he still couldn't control him entirely… Five minutes… What are five minutes in a fight that can last hours…?

Sometimes, he could even hear his 'other half' laugh in his head, for nothing in particular. Ichigo came to the conclusion that perhaps the Hollow had caught some of his thoughts and had found something funny, whatever it was.

Today, for some reason, he had laughed while they were getting out of the school, at the end of the day. It was getting really annoying, so much that it made the Shinigami forget about his surroundings and focus on making this damn thing shut up without saying it out loud.

But then, of course, that meant he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and so he hadn't realised that someone had stopped in front of him, causing him to crash into the student.

The words that followed had made him come out of his 'trance'.

"Hey! Pay attention to where you're going, Kurosaki!" He had heard someone say under him.

He knew this voice. After a blank moment, he had finally realised that he was looking down at the dark-haired Quincy lying on the floor, adjusting his glasses threateningly, and he was on top of the boy, his hands on either side of the other's head. He was still annoyed at the Hollow, and was still in a daze, not realising the other students stopping to look at them. For a long moment, he had stayed there, looking absent-mindedly into Ishida's blue eyes.

"Are you going to get off me, or do I have to shoot an arrow through you to wake you up?" the other boy had finally menaced, seeing no movement from above.

When remembering about all that, the orange-haired boy sensed his cheeks warming slightly. He turned on his side, facing the wall, and tried to find some sleep.

--------------------------

Uryuu was on his way home, returning from the convenience store. On the way, his mind drifted over what happened at school and he adjusted his glasses. Really, what was going on with Kurosaki? For some days now, he seemed rather annoyed, his scowl deeper than ever, and he was often dazing away. Not that he cared, though. It was not as if he was going to ask the Shinigami what was going on. He had his own problems to deal with, and that was more than enough.

He continued his way, trying not to think about the other boy until he heard someone laugh behind him. That in itself shouldn't be surprising, even at that hour of the day, but the laugh didn't seem… human. He stopped and turned around carefully, only to distinguish a very familiar silhouette in the dark road he was walking on.

"Kurosaki?" He tried, although he could sense in his reiatsu that it wasn't really Kurosaki. Far too powerful, and dark.

The only reply was that echoing hollow laugh again. "'Kurosaki' is asleep for the moment!"

Was it…?

He conjured his bow, but took only a small bit of energy in order to make it smaller. He created an arrow and pointed it towards the figure standing some feet away from him.

"Who… What are you?" He corrected, unsure about how to address it.

Again, he received only a laugh as an answer, but as he was about to shoot an arrow, he was pinned against a near-by wall, a hand on his throat.

That was definitely not Kurosaki. His eyes wide from the surprise, he looked at the other's face and could see Kurosaki's face, with a wide grin, dark and orange eyes. His Hollow-side, he figured out.

"Tch… I knew you were still weak…" The 'thing' said, his shrill but at the same time low voice echoing in his ears.

The grip on his neck slowly loosened, and he felt fingers tracing slowly his jaw line.

"Heh! Not so bad…" It added.

"Get off me," Ishida whispered menacingly.

The Hollow's grin faded for a second, but it seemed to be bothered by something else than the Quincy's threat. He was looking at him but his gaze was absent, as Kurosaki's had been some hours ago.

"You know, I'm only doing that for you, _Aibou_!" He said, his grin back on his face. Ishida understood it wasn't directed at him. "Make up your mind! You wan-"

Uryuu looked into the eyes of the Hollow to see that it was internally struggling.

"Shut up and return to sleep!" He shouted, taking his head in his hands. After a moment of silence he added with another grin, "Well then, stay where you are and enjoy the view! At least you'd be able to take a good examp-"

His grin faded suddenly and his eyes slowly returned to their original orange. Ishida didn't know what to do or say, so he waited to be sure Kurosaki was back.

"Sorry, Ishida." He heard the other one say, his voice back to normal. He saw that the boy still had his head in his hands.

"It's okay." He answered, frowning slightly. "But, I thought you told us you had succeeded in controlling him?"

The orange-haired Shinigami slowly looked up at the Quincy with a frown. He then averted his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Tch. I thought I had, too…" He finally said. "I fought him, you know, and I nearly lost."

Ishida's eyes widened slightly, and as the other started to walk slowly, he decided to follow him. It seemed like Kurosaki needed to talk to someone at the moment. He stayed silent for a moment, waiting for the other to say what he had on his heart.

"But I won… I won against this bastard, and he's still annoying me… Five minutes; I can fight with his power for only five minutes." He growled. "Maybe it would have been better if I had lost against him." He added, lowering his head.

Ishida looked at him. It was so unlike Kurosaki to say these kinds of things, he who always acted like a hero. Well, even heroes have weaknesses, he thought.

"I don't think so," he answered, causing the other teenager to look at him, his frown deepening. "There's still Aizen to fight, and I don't think the Shinigamis would have any chance if you turned against them." He added, trying a small smile.

Ichigo snorted in answer, looking back at the horizon.

"I don't know if that would help you," Ishida tried, "but I can propose a fight."

"A fight?"

"Yeah, a fight. I mean, I'm powerful enough now to be able to win against you, so then you'll be able to practise your Hollow thing."

"Heh! Powerful enough, huh?" The Kurosaki boy replied with a smirk. "Okay! I accept!"

Ishida then thought he had succeeded. He had somewhat brightened up the other's mood, and he would be to test his new capacities against his Shinigami 'friend'.

"So, let's say, tomorrow, after school, at Urahara's basement?" He proposed.

As the redhead agreed, Ishida stopped in his tracks and smirked. This was going to be a really interesting battle. And he might as well show what his new strength was straightaway.

"See you tomorrow then," he said. And in the blink of an eye, he disappeared, leaving a dumbstruck Shinigami.

Eventually, the boy shrugged and turned to return to his house.

--------------------------

"So, are you ready, Kurosaki? Don't think I'll go easy on you!"

The school day was finally over, and they were in Urahara's basement, facing each other in the rocky landscape. Ichigo had been looking for this moment all day, and he knew, from Ishida's behaviour, that he too had been waiting for it, even though they didn't share a single word on the way from school to the shop.

Ichigo reached out to his back and took hold of Zangetsu. "Like hell I'll let you win!"

Ishida watched as the thin white ribbon bounding the zanpakutou unfolded slowly. He kind of liked it when the Shinigami revealed his sword. There was something quite majestic about this unusual 'unsheathing', and it sort of accentuated the fact that Kurosaki wasn't a Shinigami like any others. Completely different from the first aspect of the zanpakutou, which had only been ridiculously large.

The orange-haired boy finally stretched his arm up and laid it on his side, at some distance from his body so as the sword would not touch the ground. The ribbon was gracefully tracing in the air the path that the boy's hand had taken. Once it touched the ground, Ishida was pulled out of his reverie and he looked into the other boy's eyes to see him smirking. His smirked back, thinking that it was now his turn to impress his now opponent.

He extended his right arm towards the Shinigami, fingers outstretched, and Ichigo could see that the cross dangling from the boy's skinny arm was a bit more complex than the first one. It now looked more like a star with five branches, and the circle that he saw the other pull to create an arrow before was now encircling the centre of the symbol. The sleeve of Ishida's shirt slid down enough to let him see that the bracelet had been wrapped at least three or four times around his wrist, and the Death God vaguely thought it might have been originally a necklace.

His friend had told him that it was the Last Quincy's cross, which he had inherited from his father after finally surpassing him. Ichigo was eager to see what his bow would be like, if he was as powerful as he pretended to be.

He watched unblinkingly as a blue halo formed around the silver and blue star, growing rapidly and extending up and down. It finally condensed and Ichigo could make out the form of the bow.

"What…the…" He began, looking at it with his eyebrows raised and his mouth open.

He was at first a bit impressed by this new 'special' form, and Ishida seemed to have realised that as his smirk widened, but then the Shinigami burst out laughing. He was sure that the Quincy was growing annoyed, but he couldn't stop laughing, his eyes filled with tears. He supported his weight on his zanpakutou as he bent forward, putting his other arm around his abs.

But then, he stopped as suddenly as he had begun as he sensed something rushing past his ears. His eyes widened as he heard a crash behind him and he straightened up, looking at the dark-haired boy to see that he was in his fighting pose. Realising it might have been arrows he had felt, he turned his head to look behind him and saw steam getting out of two holes on the rock behind him.

'Two arrows at once, heh?' thought he.

He looked back at the Quincy with a smile.

"Not bad!" He said, nodding slightly in approval. He grabbed Zangetsu again, pulled it out of the ground and pointed it towards his opponent.

"Come on, Kurosaki! Are you already afraid?" The other started mockingly.

"You wish!" He roared, launching himself towards the boy.

Raising Zangetsu, he lowered it once he was close enough from his target. He then realised that he had been slicing air and he looked up just in time to see Ishida shooting an arrow high above him. He put his zanpakutou over his head to deflect the arrow from its previous trajectory and saw the Quincy landing on a rock from the corner of his eye.

He turned round and understood that it was useless to try close combat with the archer, so he might as well play the boy's game.

"Getsuga…" He whispered as he started running towards the rock. "…TENSHOU!" He roared and sent the attack up to where the Quincy was waiting.

Ishida saw the diagonal blue attack coming towards him and gracefully jumped off his rock. However, the 'fang' ended his way on the top of the big stone, causing it to explode from the force.

He walked out of the haze created by fallen pieces, coughing a little. "Uncouth" He said, wiping the dust off his clothes with his free-hand. "You have no style, Kurosaki Ichigo."

The other teen snorted and retorted, "And you have _too much_ style!"

This caused the bespectacled boy to glare threateningly at the redhead. After a moment, he adjusted his glasses and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "This is already boring. Fight seriously, Kurosaki, I don't like winning easily."

This fight was actually getting really interesting, as he thought it would be, but he knew the Shinigami was still restraining himself. He was sure this was going to motivate him.

"Tch… Fine!" The other answered, his grip on his zanpakutou tightening. If the Quincy wanted a real fight, then he'd have one. Now he could finally raise speed.

He glared back and started running. But as he saw the other boy preparing to dodge the attack once again, he concentrated and willed his power to fusion with the air.

Ishida's eyes widened. He was preparing to attack just after the boy would try to slice him, but then, in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared.

"Got ya, Mr Handicrafts!" He suddenly heard from behind.

As he had predicted, the Shinigami was now taking this fight quite seriously. He took him by surprise, but Ishida Uryuu was not one to be caught only by speed. He concentrated some energy under his feet and disappeared for an instant from Ichigo's sight. He reappeared some feet away and released three arrows towards his opponent. This latter managed to divert two of them, but the third brushed his left thigh.

"Come on, Kurosaki, you're still playing! Fight! Aren't you here to control your Hollow side?"

"But… It's dang-"

"Do it, Kurosaki! I want to see what you're capable of." Ishida cut in, more than serious.

He could see that the Death God was still hesitant, but he was confident, he knew that his new powers were able to, if not win, at least fight on the same level as his friend.

"Tch… Okay…" The other finally replied, putting his hand to his face.

The Quincy wanted him to release his full power, but he decided to ask for the Hollow's help only in his Shikai's form. Not that he was sure about his strength compared to the archer's, but he knew that his Bankai was not be used in a spar against friends, even powerful ones.

So he reached out at the back of his mind and called for the Hollow.

'I need you now, please give me some of your strength.' He thought, receiving the usual laugh as a reply.

Ishida's eyes suddenly widened again as he sensed the teen's reiatsu flaring up to a level he never thought possible. As he released all his reiatsu in response so as to not be crushed under the pressure, he realised that Ichigo was now wearing a full Hollow mask.

"Getsuga" – he launched himself in the air as the other raised his sword – "Tenshou".

There was no hesitation this time in the invocation, and Uryuu was once again surprised at what he saw. Instead of the usual ocean-blue 'fang', what was coming rapidly towards his was now a black whirl. He prepared mentally as much arrows as he could and sent them all in order to annihilate the attack. Most of it was destroyed, but some arrows had passed through it and he was hit by small remainings, causing him to lose his concentration and fall to the ground with a loud crash.

When he came back to his senses some seconds after, he slowly got up to his feet and waited for the cloud of dust to dissipate. His vision was a bit blurred because of the state his glasses were in, so he took them off and started searching for a black figure. After a moment, he finally saw something moving on his right and walked towards it. Once close enough, he realised it was Kurosaki, sitting cross-legged on the floor. His mask had vanished, and it seemed like he had been badly injured.

"Kurosaki, are you all right?" He tried, kneeling beside the boy.

"What was all that?" He asked, and Ishida couldn't help but notice how his voice sounded weak.

"It seems like you got hit by spare arrows."

The Shinigami looked at him with raised eyebrows, but then nodded slightly and looked back at the floor. After a moment of awkward silence, he looked back at the dark-haired boy. "Can you… help me… stand up?" He slowly asked.

"Oh. Sure." Ishida stood up and put the other's arm around his shoulder to pull the boy up. From the way he leant against him, Uryuu understood that he would have to help him walk as well. He conjured up all the energy he had left and concentrated air under them to take them up to the exit trap.

Once outside, they started walking slowly. Ishida could hear the other mumble incomprehensible things. He asked him where his house was, but it seemed like the Shinigami was off again, probably struggling in his inner-world, but still half-conscious, for he was walking. Ishida decided to take him to his flat, which was now not so far away.

--------------------------

One rainy night. Ichigo was walking back home with his mother. One minute later and he was lying under her, her body covered in blood.

"'kaa-san?" He whispered. "'KAA-SAN!"

He half woke up with a start, but his grief was soon eased out by the gesture he felt in his hair. He was curled up on the floor and his head was resting on something soft. Somebody's knees, he deduced.

He tried to remember what had happened to him. The last thing in his mind was his fight with Ishida… Could it be…?

This realisation woke him up entirely and he straightened up suddenly, looking at the person he had been asleep on.

"You? What are you doing here?"

The one he was facing was not exactly the person he had thought. In front of him was sitting what he had tried to control for months now.

What was he doing in his inner-world? And above all, had the Hollow really been the one running his hand in his hair?

Upon seeing Ichigo's surprised face, the white boy snorted.

"Heh! Seems like you wanted to see someone else instead of me, didn't you?"

Ichigo frowned at this remark. He had thought it was Ishida, but this was only because the boy had been the last one he had seen. But of course, it had been really stupid to think something like that, like hell would Ishida let him sleep with his head on his lap. Not that he wanted it, either.

The Hollow laughed, and Ichigo tried to stand up, annoyed. However, he stumbled back next to his other half.

"You're still weak, Aibou. Sleep."

--------------------------

"'Kaa-san…"

Ishida, who was sitting against a wall, sewing, looked up as the boy curled up on his sofa whispered in his sleep. His face had been quite peaceful just a moment before, but now he was looking like he was going to yell in sorrow.

He remembered the other telling him about how his mother had died when he was a child. He could perfectly understand that. After all, he too often lived his grandfather's death again in dreams.

He didn't really know what to do for the other boy so he slowly got up and put the covers the Shinigami had kicked off back on him. However, the warmth caused him to wake up.

"Ishida?" He said, sitting up. He looked carefully around him and added, "Where are we?"

"In my apartment," the dark-haired boy replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Ichigo answered after a small pause. He pushed the blanket aside but then saw it was stained with blood. "Hell! I'm sorry, Ishida!"

"It's nothing…" The Quincy said, sitting back against the wall facing the sofa. "You can take a shower if you want." He added.

"Thanks." He shifted to get up but stopped again when his feet touched the ground. "So, erm… who won?"

"I have no idea. You're getting quite powerful, though."

Ichigo's eyes widened a little at that. It was really unusual, coming from the archer, but he decided not to dwell too much on it and take it as it was.

"Thanks," he said, getting up and rubbing his neck in his embarrassed manner. "You're not bad either!" he added, smiling.

"The door on the right," Ishida said a moment after as the other went round the sofa and was heading for the bathroom.

"Wha -? Oh! Thanks!"

--------------------------

When Ichigo went out, he found Ishida in the kitchen.

"Mm, smells good here." He stated as he entered the little room.

Ishida suddenly looked up, eyebrow raised and eyes slightly widened, but then looked back down to what he was stirring, trying to hide his small blush.

"It's not that good…" He mumbled. "I'm sure you've smelled better."

"Mackerel miso?" Ichigo said as he bent to smell better over the archer's arm. "Yuzu don't often cook mackerel!"

Ishida stiffened a little from the closeness. After a moment of silence, Ichigo finally straightened, and Uryuu looked behind him towards the window in the sitting-room to see that the night had just fallen not so long ago. "You can stay here to eat if you want," he proposed in a low voice. He had never had anyone in his apartment, nor anyone to eat with, and he was quite sure to the Shinigami was going to refuse.

Ichigo looked at his watch. It was already past the time they usually ate at home, and even though he was sure Yuzu had put some of the dinner aside for him, he really wanted to see if Ishida's meal was as good as it smelt. "Okay! Thanks!" He answered.

The Quincy turned his head towards the other boy, blue eyes wide behind his glasses. He pushed them up his nose and looked away again. "Isn't your family waiting for you?" He asked, unable to keep melancholy out of his voice.

"Not really. They eat at seven and if you dare arrive late you eat alone." He explained, shrugging. "So, erm… Can I help with something?" He added, feeling suddenly uncomfortable and looking around to see something to do.

"Can you set the table?"

"Yeah, sure!"

He was glad he was given something to do. Taking all they need from the cupboard he was shown, he went out of the room to set everything on the table.

As the plates and glasses clashed when he put them on the wood, he heard a shout from the kitchen.

"Kurosaki! Take a tablecloth in the cupboard in front of the sofa!"

He smiled at that, but did as he was told. There were at least five tablecloths in the piece of furniture, all handmade of course. He looked through them and took out a blue one with red-orange motives on it. As he laid it on the table, he found that orange and blue did a good association, he had always liked these colours. And now he thought about it, they kind of resumed their 'association'.

As he thought that, he tried to ignore the other laughing again in his head. It had been a while. His scowl deepened, but the cackle intensified.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled.

"What?" He heard from the kitchen.

"Oh! No! Sorry, Ishida. It wasn't for you." He hastily answered as he realised he had said it out loud.

A Quincy and a Shinigami, he thought again as he returned to his previous thoughts after finishing setting up the table. He sat down. An association everyone thought impossible. Still, they were going on well. Like the colours on the tablecloth; one could think they were clashing because they are completely opposed to each other.

Red and blue. The blue of the other's bow, the red of his own reiraku.

Suddenly, he wondered if the Quincy's reiraku could be blue too. He concentrated on sensing the other boy and finally managed to conjure his spirit thread. He opened his eyes and grinned.

The perfect blue of the tablecloth. He reached out and carefully caught the thread between his fingers. He realised it was coming out from the kitchen's wall and playfully tugged on it.

Just at that moment, he heard a loud gasp mixed with a cry coming from the kitchen, quickly followed by something being dropped onto the floor.

Ichigo quickly got up and rushed into the kitchen.

The dark-haired boy was wide-eyed, panting softly, clutching tightly at the worktop he was leaning on.

"Ishida! What happened?" He asked.

Ishida turned his head to look at the Shinigami. "I don't kn–" he was about to answer when his eyes wandered down to Ichigo's hand. He was holding… his reiraku?

Again, Ichigo tried to ignore the roaring laughter in his head. He brought his eyes to where the Quincy was looking and saw he was still holding the blue thread.

Slowly putting two and two together, he looked up again at the flushed boy.

Said boy, however seemed to have understood before him and warned the other. "NO! Kurosaki, don't!"

But it was too late; Ichigo was already pulling his reiraku. Ishida sensed something tugging at his stomach once, and was being pulled forward by an invisible force. It felt like the fingers holding the thread were holding his heart and lungs. It felt weird, but it somehow felt good too.

When he came back to him, he realised he was in Kurosaki's arms. He quickly freed himself from the arms as he heard the boy chuckle.

"This is not funny, Kurosaki! What did you think you were doing?" He said, trying to push his glasses up his nose threateningly.

"I'm sorry! I swear I didn't know you could sense it when someone tugged at your reiraku." The boy answered for his defence once he had regained his serious.

"Hell…" Ishida whispered as he bent down to pick up the spoons he had dropped in his surprise. He took some plates filled with rice and other things and forced them into Ichigo's hands. "Take this, sit down, and don't do anything stupid again, I'm nearly done." He added.

As the orange-haired boy complied, Uryuu turned and lay against the worktop, sighing. His life had been quite eventful since he first saw Kurosaki at school, and everyday he saw something he never thought about before. Today wasn't an exception. His grandfather used to take Uryuu's reiraku in his hands to show him how to conjure them, but never had Uryuu felt like that when Souken had the thread in his hand. He had only felt something tugging slightly at his stomach back then.

He frowned and turned the gas off, bringing the last things to the dining-room.

Ichigo was looking absent-mindedly outside the window, and when Ishida started filling their plates, he turned at him with a small smile. Ishida, seeing that from the corner of his eyes, felt quite uncomfortable at that sudden change from his friend. He could feel the other's intense gaze but refused to look at him. As he finally sat down, he saw what tablecloth the boy had put on and cursed inwardly. Of all he had, he had to pick this particular one he had done one day when he had been in a really bad mood and needed to laugh. But the boy hadn't said anything about that so he decided to forget about it for the moment.

"Oh god, Ishida! That's _gorgeous_!" Ichigo exclaimed as he started eating. "I'm sure even Yuzu can't do better!"

Ishida tried to hide his blush by adjusting his glasses. "Thanks… But it's not that great you know… My grandfather's cooking was a hundred times better. He's the one who taught me."

"Oh, I see." He didn't know what to say, being aware of what the old man had meant for the boy sitting in front of him. So, after a moment of silence, he decided to try talking about their battle.

And they ended up talking more than they thought, bickering as usual and even laughing. Finally, Ishida brought the subject of Ichigo's Hollow side. So on they talked again, about how Ichigo managed to control it, about Ishida finally admitting he didn't think he'd be able to win against it 'without killing him' and the likes.

"You know," Ichigo continued after he had answered all his friend's questions, "before I woke up, I was in my inner-world and… he was acting so weird… he was…" –he ran his hand in his hair- "hell… I woke up with my head on his lap and he was running his hand my hair! He was acting all weird!"

"Did he… say something?" Ishida asked, bewildered.

"Yeah…" He answered, frowning in thought. "He said…"

"_Heh! Seems like you wanted to see someone else instead of me, didn't you?"_

He fell silent as he remembered these words. He sure had been surprised when he had seen the Hollow, but if had thought about Ishida at first, it was only because he was the last person he had seen; he had already made that clear.

'_Oh, you think so?? What_ I _felt was that you were disappointed!' _He heard echoing in his head.

'Shut up, I was not!' He thought.

He then looked away after realising he had been staring at Ishida the whole time, who was looking back at him with a puzzled look. "Never mind" He added hastily, leaning back in his chair. "Anyway, thank you for the meal, really, it was delicious!" He added to change the subject.

"Oh, you're welcome… It was nothing…"

As Ichigo put his chopsticks back on the table, something caught his eye, and he finally realised what the little red things on the tablecloth were.

"Ishida!" He exclaimed, pointing at one of the thing. "Don't tell me these are… _strawberries_!" He added, unbelievingly.

Ishida, however, was tempted to laugh, understanding that the other boy hadn't realised that earlier. Instead he pushed his glasses up and shrugged. "So what? Do you have something against strawberries?" He said, trying to sound casually.

"No, it's not that, it's just… well… why do they have some orange?" The boy wondered out loud.

"I… I was lacking red thread."

"Yeah… right…" He smirked. "Oh shit! Look at the time!" Ichigo added as he looked at his watch. "I'd better get going; my sisters should already be sleeping… And I don't think they'll get any sleep if I'm not here to stop the old man from trying to sleep with one of them. Damn, he's annoying."

Ishida looked at him without knowing what say… The Kurosaki family seemed quite…cheerful… but maybe too much, if he were to believe the eldest son.

They both got up and Ishida started clearing the table. Ichigo followed him in the kitchen to bring him the last things but was thrown out as he tried to do the dishes.

"It was nice. Thanks again, Ishida!" He said as he was following the boy to the door. "We should do that more often, you know!" He added, more seriously. He really had a good time with the Quincy, and wasn't really looking forward for tomorrow, when he was sure the boy would return to his cold self.

"Okay, why not." Ishida answered after a moment, opening the door. He couldn't ignore that he too had had quite a good time. "You can come tomorrow if you want." Ichigo stopped in front of him and looked at him in disbelief. "Not for fighting though!" He added. "But you can come eating if you want."

"Okay then! I'll bring the meal!" He said, grinning and stepping out of the flat. "See you tomorrow then!!"

Uryuu closed the door, and lay against it for a moment with a small smile. However, when he returned in the kitchen to do the washing-up, he hoped the Shinigami wasn't planning on coming everyday, or else Ishida would end up really exhausted.

--------------------------

Finally, Ichigo had been going to the Quincy's for a week now – except the week-end –, and he had always brought the meal. Today, the excuse he had found was that he wanted some help for homeworks and would be 'honoured to be helped by the top student'. He had known Ishida would never refuse it if said like that.

That's how he ended up once again in front of the other's apartment, his bag over his shoulders and the meal in his hands, as usual.

He knocked softly and waited for an answer, but as none came, he tried the handle and found the door was open. He entered and saw that the top of the dark-haired head coming out from the arm of the sofa. He thought the boy might be absorbed in sewing or reading, as he always did when he had some free-time.

But as he looked over the back of the sofa, he realised his friend had fallen asleep while reading a book.

He went to the kitchen to put the dinner in the fridge and, after putting his bag on the table, he returned behind the sofa and looked down at his sleeping companion in arms.

'_The Wounded Sword and the Ice Arrow'_, he read in large letters on the cover of the book that had caused the boy to fall asleep. 'What the hell is that?' He thought. Probably one of those mushy novels, he scowled.

However, he felt a smile tug at his lips as he looked at the peaceful face. He seemed really different, no haughty frown, no smirk.

He heard the Hollow inside laugh. Ichigo asked him to shut up, as he was now used to. He had realised that the Hollow was laughing a lot when he was at Ishida's flat, and that was really bothering him.

Ishida squirmed a little and Ichigo quickly caught the book before it fell to ground and woke him up. Walking in front of the sofa, he thought wise to take the boy's glasses off, eliciting a small moan from their owner. He carefully put them on the table and chuckled silently as he caught sight of the bookmark, waiting on the small table; what else could it be, if not white with an ocean-blue cross?

Sitting down against the chest of drawers in front of the sofa, he decided to see what this book was about. As he marked the page where Quincy had fallen asleep, a sentence caught his eyes.

_Sen knew the reaper was already there, so he observed him from the top of the hill. He secretly enjoyed watching him training with his father, seeing how his body gracefully followed the movement of his sword._

He snatched the book close. What the hell was that?? Was that… a gay romance??

He slowly opened the book to the first page.

_Sen was an archer._

Okay… Of course… What else would the Quincy read about!

Ichigo couldn't help but start reading it, but only to 'see what could be interesting in these kind of stories', he told himself.

However, he soon found the story really captivating and was nearly at the middle of it when he heard someone call his name.

He looked up to see that Ishida was awake and was holding himself up with an elbow. Gone to '_Kure City'_, absorbed by the Romeo-and-Juliet-like impossible love between Sen, from a family of archers, and Kazuki, from a family of swordsmen, he had completely forgotten about the other boy's presence and about why he was here.

"Kurosaki? Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked.

"You were cute when you were silent!" Ichigo answered, getting up with a wide smirk and putting the book back on the table.

"Shut up!" Ishida answered. He wanted to push his glasses up but realised that there were on the table. He didn't remember putting them off, so he concluded that Kurosaki might have taken them off, which made him blush a little. But then, as the other walked past him to go searching for something in his bag, he saw the book he had been reading before dozing off. And it was… the book… Kurosaki had been reading just now…

Ichigo came back with some books for studying and sat back where he had been previously. He noticed that Ishida hadn't moved, and was fixing the novel with his mouth slightly open.

He decided to reassure him. "I'm okay with it, you know."

As Ishida finally looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he added, lowering his gaze and shrugging, "I mean, the story really is interesting."

At this, Uryuu snapped back to reality and suddenly got up to take the book.

"Hey! Don't take it! I haven't finished it yet!" Ichigo exclaimed and hold him down by his wrist.

Uryuu glared at him as best as he could, trying not to pay attention to the small distance between their faces. "Let me go, Kurosaki." He whispered, narrowing his eyes threateningly. When the grip on his wrist finally loosened, he got up and went into his bedroom to put the novel safely back into his bedside table. With that, he went to the bathroom to splash his face with water.

He had been caught reading this book, and above all by the last person he had wanted to see that. And he said he was okay with it. But okay with what? – he thought as water was dripping down his face. And why, damnit, why did he have to be attracted by this Shinigami since the first time he saw him?

--------------------------

Ichigo stared blankly – his Hollow still laughing madly inside him – as Ishida stormed into the bathroom after hiding the book into his bedroom. At first, he wanted to go take it back but he wasn't sure he wanted to face a Quincy in a really bad mood, now that everything was going quite well between them. Things were even taking a weird turn. He hadn't really thought about it before, but it seemed like the book had opened his eyes.

As he read it, he couldn't help but think about Ishida every time there was the name Sen, and couldn't help identifying himself as Kazuki. That sure may have been related to the fact that they were an archer and a swordsman, but when things were getting quite intimate behind these two characters, he didn't mind, he wasn't even disgusted or anything. Well, he had never had anything against gay relationships, but the thing was that even if he thought about them as Ishida and him, it still wasn't so bad an image.

He looked back down at his homeworks, but he realised he couldn't concentrate enough. So he decided to start preparing the dinner.

"What are you doing, Kurosaki?" Ishida asked when he finally came back some minutes after.

From his tone, Ichigo realised that he was still a bit furious, but there was no way in hell he was going to be thrown out because he had just read a book he had found interesting. So he looked at the Quincy standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm preparing the dinner…" He answered in a matter-of fact tone, raising an eyebrow.

Ishida grunted but went to prepare the table.

--------------------------

After eating, they finally get to do their homeworks. They hadn't talked much while eating, and it wasn't really changing, apart from Ichigo sometimes asking one or two things to his classmate. But the rest of time, in the awkward silence, the only sounds that could be heard was the scratching of pens on paper.

After some time, Ichigo couldn't bear it anymore and, tapping his pen a bit nervously on his book, he decided to bring the subject on.

"Ishida?"

The other boy raised his head, knowing that the question he had been dreading all evening was finally going to be asked.

"Erm… You know… That book…" He began, still searching his words. "Could you… lend it to me… later… once you finish it?"

Ishida stared at him in disbelief. It seemed like he wasn't really expecting this kind of question.

"What?"

The Kurosaki boy still wasn't looking up, but continued. "I told you I found the story interesting, so I want to see how it'll finish."

As no answer came he finally looked up and added in a defensive tone, "What's wrong with this? I don't have the right to be curious?"

"Of course not!" Ishida continued, now finding the conversation easier if it was to start bickering. "I just thought that it wasn't the kind of things _you_ would read, Kurosaki."

"And why not, smarty-pants?"

"Because you're not really the gay type, Kurosaki!" He answered casually, leaning back in the sofa, bringing his legs closer to him, thus having a closer view of his homework on his knees.

"Oh, yeah, that's true! You're the gayest here." The other boy replied in the same tone, leaning back too.

This caused the dark-haired teen to get up suddenly, adjusting his glasses menacingly. "What are you trying to say?"

Ichigo got up too and crossed his arms. "Yeah, it's true that sewing is a very manly hobby, isn't it?" He said, smirking and looking down on the other.

"What's wrong in sewing, stupid Shinigami?" He shouted, throwing his books and papers angrily behind him on the couch.

"Nothing, nothing…" He waited a moment and then added, "Anyway, and what if I _was_?"

Ishida raised an eyebrow. "Was what?"

"Gay."

"Heh! Like hell you'd be!" He retorted sardonically.

Ichigo walked the two feet round the small table between them to get in front of the Quincy and grabbed him by the collar, glaring down at him. "Oh? You think so? And what if I do that?"

He leant down and captured the slightly smaller boy's lips in a quick but fierce kiss.

He pulled back and looked right into wide blue orbs. At this moment, a lot of thoughts were pushing their ways into his mind, all at the same time, leaving him utterly confused.

Damn, that felt so good – How the hell did the conversation turn out? I was just asking for the book, and then I was trying to make him realise that I could be gay? What am I thinking? – Oh. His eyes are beautiful – Why did that Hollow bastard suddenly stop laughing? – He's not punching me. I was sure he was gay – Oh this is exactly like the scene in which Sen tries to push Kazuki away because it's too dangerous but Kazuki grabs him and kisses him passionately to make him forget about these stupid things – Hey, this was my first kiss… And with a guy… And with… Ishida… – _HAH! Finally, Aibou…_

"What do you think you're doing, Kurosaki?" Ishida snapped, trying to push him away as he was still holding his shirt.

"Uh? Oh yeah… Sorry…" Ichigo let go of him and frowned. "Er… Maybe I should go, it's getting late."

He quickly shoved his books and things in his bag, followed the other leading him to the door as usual and stopped as he was about to step out.

"Ishida, I…" He began as he turned to the Quincy.

"Out, Kurosaki." The boy said, unable to look at him.

"Yeah… Sorry."

Go out before you do something else you'll regret, Uryuu added in his thoughts as he shut the door close, resting weakly against it.

--------------------------

Ichigo was once again lying on his bed, desperately trying to find some sleep. Images of Ishida kept running in his mind, along with what he had done.

"It's hard, ne, Aibou?"

He jumped and looked beside him to see who had talked and realised that his Hollow was kneeling beside the bed, his head resting on it.

"Fuck! What are you doing here?" He whispered angrily, aware that everyone else in the house was probably asleep by now.

"Heh! It was a bit stormy down there," he said, pointing at Ichigo's heart, "so we decided that I could come help you!"

"We? Oh… The old man…"

The Hollow grinned even more. "You know, Aibou, it was finally getting interesting, and you had to run away! Are you afraid? But if you don't do anything soon, I'll have to do it for you!"

"What? Leave him outside of your stupid games!"

"Okay, okay." He answered raising his hands over his head defensively. He got up and added as the other boy sat up. "But I don't think _he_ really wants to stay away from _your_ games."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Do you want to understand what he felt?"

Without waiting for an answer, the Hollow grabbed the human by the collar and gave him the same kiss Ichigo gave to Ishida earlier. When he pulled away, Ichigo's eyes were still wide from the surprise.

"Do you think that Quincy Boy would stay insensitive after that?" He said, laughing. "As far as I remember, _he_ wasn't the one who pushed you out of his flat."

"Fuck!" The boy whispered. That had been stupid and he knew it, but Ishida hadn't done anything to keep him from going either. Well, it was Ishida he was talking about, Mr me-and-my-pride!

He tried to get up, but two strong arms encircled him firmly. "No, Aibou, you'll go there tomorrow. For the moment you need to rest." He whispered in his ear.

Ichigo complied and lied back on his bed, drifting off to sleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

The Hollow lowered over him and stroke the orange hair until the frown under them disappeared. He kissed the boy again and smiled when the human moaned the archer's name. He slowly disappeared, returning into his world filled with dark clouds but where it wasn't raining anymore.

--------------------------

Both boys had dreams about _The Wounded Sword and the Ice Arrow_; for Ishida, always the same ones since he began reading it, with him as Sen and Ichigo as Kazuki. And every time he woke up, he wondered why he had bought that book.

In fact, he hadn't thought it would be that kind of novel. At first, he had found it funny when he saw the cover with an archer and a swordsman, so he had bought it. But when he had started reading, he had been a bit afraid by the fact that the two main characters were nearly exactly like the two of them.

Today wasn't an exception for Ishida, but he added the question of why the hell had he read that damn book when he knew the Shinigami was about to come.

He stood up and went to the bathroom to take a cold shower, trying to rid his mind of the thoughts of the previous evening. Today was Saturday so he'd be able to rest a bit, he was sure that Kurosaki wouldn't come to see him before Monday at school, which would actually be really awkward.

But as he prepared his breakfast, he heard someone knock at the door and frowned. He wasn't waiting for anyone.

As he opened the door, he came face to face with the orange-haired boy, flushed from the morning low temperature.

"Oh, great, I was wondering if you were still sleeping or something." Ichigo said, smiling.

"What are you doing here, Kurosaki?" The other asked as a greeting, his frown deepening.

"Can I enter?"

Ishida shrugged and opened to door a bit more without a word, letting the other in.

"Oh, sorry, you were eating?" Ichigo apologized as he saw everything ready on the table.

"It's okay." He shrugged again, filling his bowl with tea. "Do you want some?" He added after a moment, becoming uncomfortable as he sensed the other was looking each of his movements.

"Uh… Yeah, why not, thanks."

Once they finished, not a word had been spoken and they headed for the kitchen. As Ishida started cleaning the bowls, Ichigo cleared his throat, causing the other boy to stop a moment in his task but he resumed his cleaning some seconds after, when the Shinigami started speaking.

"Erm, Ishida… I wanted to say… for yesterday… erm… you know… I don't know why I left so suddenly in fact, because, I thought about it and… I don't regret it all…"

The bowl Ishida was rinsing slipped between his fingers and fell with a loud 'clang' in the sink. He turned to look at his friend when he heard him chuckle slightly and raised an eyebrow, adjusting his glasses.

"So," Ichigo continued, walking closer from the Quincy; "well, I just came to tell you that… and… well…"

Not knowing how to put everything he had on his mind into words, he leant down and placed a small kiss on Ishida's lips.

When he pulled away, the other's gaze was so intense that he had to struggle not to look away and tried not to acknowledge the tickling in his cheeks.

"So, erm… If you don't… you know…" He mumbled incoherently.

Ishida seemed to understand though, for he looked away and shrugged, resisting the smile that threatened to push its way through his lips.

Relieved, Ichigo smiled and slowly took the dark-haired head in his hand. He leant down again and captured the boy's soft lips. This time, Ishida kissed him back and Ichigo tentatively snaked his arms around the thin waist, slowly pulling him closer. He deepened the kiss as Ishida put his arms around his neck, fisting one hand in his messy orange hair. They both opened their mouths slightly, tongues meeting half-way. Their hold tightened, and Ichigo slowly pushed the other boy against the work-top, causing the slightly smaller teen to moan into the other's mouth.

After what seemed like forever, they pulled away to breathe, Ichigo still smiling. This time, Ishida was so amazed to see the Shinigami without his usual frown that he couldn't help smiling back. Ichigo's grin widened and he brought his hands to the Quincy's spectacles.

"Can I?" He asked, tilting his head.

Ishida frowned a little. "I won't see very well… It'll be quite annoying…" He said, but didn't resist as Ichigo carefully took them off.

"I just want to see your eyes." He whispered, setting them on the counter behind the boy.

"Happy now?" Ishida snapped.

"Yeah, really happy!" He received as an answer. From what he could distinguish, he saw that the boy was grinning.

Ichigo tightened his hold around Ishida's neck and buried his face in his shoulder. As he felt the other fisting his shirt on his back, he turned his head a bit and placed a small kiss on the nearest white piece of skin. The small groan he heard from above encouraged him to continue. He smiled against the sensitive spot and trailed his kisses up until he caught an earlobe between his lips, giving it swift flicks with his tongue.

This caused Ishida to gasp and he tightened his hold on Ichigo's shirt while the boy slowly kissed his way along the thin jaw line, until finally reaching soft willing lips.

Their tongues danced together, exploring, discovering, and Ishida stopped first to suck at the other's lower lip.

"Uryuu…" He groaned.

Said boy drew his head back; blue eyes widened a bit and glared at warm orange ones before narrowing in an attempt of menace.

"No one ever calls me by first name." The Quincy said, intending it to be a threat.

"Then, let me be the first one." Ichigo whispered, pressing their foreheads together and smiling.

Ishida sighed, but couldn't help smiling a bit too. "Okay then, _Ichigo_!"

The orange-head kissed him soundly. "Good!"

They stayed silently into the tight embrace for a moment before Uryuu remembered something.

"Erm… Ichigo? Can you let me go? I have… things to do today…" He said hesitantly.

Ichigo pulled away a bit. "Homework?"

"No… not really…" He pushed Ichigo furthermore. "But if you want we can have a fight, after!" He added, putting his glasses back on his nose.

"Eeeeh?" Ichigo stared at him dubiously. "No way! Don't you remember–"

"Okay! I was just kidding!" Ishida cut him with a smirk, walking out of the kitchen.

Ichigo followed the Quincy's movements with his eyes, mouth slightly open. Ishida Uryuu, kidding? That was new to him! And it wasn't unpleasant at all.

From that he knew that he wouldn't be at the end of his surprises.

"Where are you going?" He asked as he went in the sitting-room, looking at Ishida taking things from a cupboard, going in his bedroom to take a bag, filling it with odd things, etc…

The boy stopped a moment in what he was doing, considering his answer. Then he straightened up and adjusted his glasses.

"I have…" – he cleared his throat – "I have found haute couture lessons."

Ichigo chuckled softly but stopped from the glare he received.

"It's not funny," Uryuu warned. "Anyway, I'm going to be late at this rhythm." He ran from cupboard to cupboard, checking that he hadn't forgotten anything. "You can stay here if you want. If you leave before I come back, just don't forget to lock the door, I have doubles of the keys in my bedside table. Bye."

With that, he rushed to the door and left. Ichigo sat on the sofa, looking absent-mindedly towards the closed door.

Well, he had Uryuu's authorization to stay here, so he might as well wait for him.

As there was no television, he thought for a moment about doing his homeworks, but then he realised he hadn't brought his schoolbag.

Staying here without anything to do wasn't really appealing, so he decided he'd better go back to his house to take his bag, or even stay at his house. He got up and went into the Quincy's bedroom to search for the doubles of keys.

_Heh! You're not doing badly for the moment, Aibou. I wonder when things will get even more interesting._ The voice in his head echoed, followed by the usual cackle.

"Tch… Shut up…" He answered aloud.

Then he opened the drawer of the small wooden piece of furniture and looked into it for the keys. But what he saw in there was definitely more interesting than going back home and doing homeworks.

--------------------------

Ishida pushed the door of his home open, wondering if Ichigo had left without locking it as he asked him, but he realised he could sense Ichigo spirit into his flat. He frowned while closing the door; he hadn't thought that the boy would still be here this late. Outside, streetlamps were already on, the cloud in the darkening sky growing from pink to dark orange. He hadn't thought the lesson would be that long, but the teacher had insisted on taking them all out to a fashion show.

He was glad he had stopped to the convenient store on his way back to take some food, in case Ichigo would still be at his apartment.

As he walked in, he saw the boy lying on the sofa, reading _the_ book. He walked closer, carefully putting his bag on his desk, and was about to ask the Shinigami who had allowed him to search his things when the book was snapped shut.

"Hi!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Perfect timing! I've just finished it! It was really amazing!" He said, sitting up with a grin.

Uryuu snorted and turned his back to the smiling boy, getting things out of his bag onto the desk. "Are you hungry?" He asked.

Ichigo seemed to hesitate before standing up, answering, "Yeah, I'm quite hungry!"

"Good, I just –" he stopped in mid-sentence, gasping as he felt something tugging at his stomach and was drawn backwards, landing right into the arms of the other boy.

"What are you doing?" He cried out, panting slightly as he was turned around. He could see Ichigo was holding the ocean-blue spirit thread, and he looked up into his eyes, waiting for an answer. What he saw in the chocolate orbs was indeed hunger.

"No." Ichigo said, his grin widening. "I'm not really hungry for food at the moment."

He bent down and started ravishing the stunned boy's mouth. The slender teen was pushed roughly onto sofa, the hungry Death God on top, their lips still locked together.

Ishida could sense that the other boy was pretty aroused, and he knew that all the blame was to that damn book. But he found that he couldn't quite complain as the treatment he was receiving allowed only moans and groans to come out of his throat.

Ichigo kissed his way down the Quincy's throat and his hands wandered under the boy's shirt, causing the archer to gasp from the warm touch.

If Uryuu had had any reason to push the boy away, then his brain might have accidentally forgotten it as he fisted his hand into soft orange hair.

"What's that?" Ichigo wondered aloud as his hands stopped suddenly when they reached Ishida chest. He frowned a bit and tilted his head as he unzipped the white and blue shirt.

Ishida turned his head towards the back of the couch, slightly embarrassed at the way Ichigo's eyes widened.

The Shinigami stared at the star-shaped scar and after a moment, ghosted his fingers over it.

"Uryuu, what is it?" He repeated.

Ishida looked back into warm wondering eyes. "It's… It's the mark that proves that I'm the Last Quincy."

Ichigo looked back at the mark in amazement, still running his fingers over it. "Oh! So that's it! Okay…" He whispered, remembering the boy vaguely telling him about some mark his father had given him, making him officially now the Last Quincy.

He leant down and placed a small kiss in the centre of the star, causing Ishida to gasp at the odd sensation.

Ichigo snorted softly. "You Quincys really like blue, don't you?" He added with a grin.

To underline his statement, he produced once more the blue reiraku with a flick of wrist. As Ishida gasped again, he smirked and laid the thread next to the scar, comparing the shades of blue. They were exactly the same.

"Ichigo! Stop that!" The boy exclaimed suddenly, leaning his head back, eyes closed.

"Stop what?" He asked, genuinely surprised for a moment. "Oh! That?" He brought the spirit thread to its owner's lips, caressing them before tickling his ears with it.

Ichigo's smirk grew wider as Uryuu was starting to pant heavily, but then his eyes widened as he felt as if someone was touching his soul, deep within him.

He looked at the hand on his shoulder and realised that it was holding a red thread, _his_ spirit thread. Indeed, the feeling was really intense. As the boy slowly pulled at the reiraku, he felt as if his inner-world was going to explode from the pleasure. His dropped his head onto the archer's shoulder and his hips moved on its own, grinding their crotch together and eliciting low growls from both teens.

"You see now how it feels?" Ishida said, panting slightly.

"Fuck, yeah…" He stayed silent for a moment. "Shit, Uryuu, I… I need you, now…"

Ishida's eyes widened as he stared at the boy above him. There sure was a glint of lust in the brown eyes. He caught Ichigo's head in his hands and pulled him down for a kiss. When they separated, each of them stayed silent.

"Okay then," Uryuu finally answered. "Take me."

'For the moment', he added in his thoughts. 'I am yours. For the moment!'

Ichigo smiled and dived again for a rough and demanding kiss. However, he was stopped as his hands started moving again and played with pink nipples.

"Stop… Ichigo!" He tried to push the boy away a little. "Let's at least go to my bedroom…" He suggested wisely.

The substitute Shinigami nodded silently and, after one last kiss, he got up and pulled Ishida up by his wrist.

Once in the bedroom, the slightly smaller boy was pushed against the closed door. Soft lips were captured demandingly and the white shirt fell to the floor. An orange t-shirt with a usual incoherent slogan on it quickly joined it down. Four hands discovered opposite bodies; long white fingers ran over tanned skin, ghosting over scars and apparent abs, while calloused – but skilled – hands ran over white soft skin. Both, however, had the same effect on the boys, sending shivers down their spine.

Uryuu broke the kiss again, but this time diverted it towards a waiting neck. Ichigo moaned and tilted his head to allow more space to the archer. He was then forced backwards and the back of his knees eventually touched the bed as Ishida was playing with his ear. He fell backwards onto the mattress, bringing the Quincy with him, their groans echoing each other's.

After one last slight bite on the neck below him, Ishida finally looked up into the boy's half-lidded eyes. Ichigo was rather quick though, and took the opportunity to switch their positions. Ishida was rolled onto his back and found himself pinned under the hungry boy once more.

Ichigo grinned. "I asked first!" He reminded the other playfully, bending for a short kiss.

He started unbuckling Ishida's belt but then looked as something stroke him. "Erm… Do you have…any…?"

Ishida smiled at the other's embarrassed face. "Yeah." He answered, reaching for the bedside table. Ichigo slowly snatched his arm away and opened the drawer. As he was spread over the Quincy, the latter took advantage of it to take good care of the neck that was offering itself to him.

It was then that he realised he had still somehow managed to keep the red threat between his fingers. The thing didn't feel at all like any other material, it felt like powerful particles assembled together to form something resembling thread; particles of energy, particles of Ichigo.

Vaguely hearing the boy whispering a 'got it', he thought of something interesting and brought the reiraku to his lips, slowly sucking onto it.

The tube that Ichigo had managed to find fell heavily back into the drawer.

"OW FUCK!" He half-growled half-gasped, his head dropping on Uryuu's shoulder, thus missing the boy's wide smirk. Without looking up, he knew what the Quincy had done; he had felt it, it was as if someone was sucking his own heart, his own soul.

Ichigo was now achingly hard, and from the other's answers to his moans, he knew that he was in the same state as himself. He snatched the lube again and quickly went to unbuckle his own pants.

They both got rid of the remaining clothes and glasses in the blink of an eye and held onto each tightly, kissing wildly.

Ichigo broke the kiss, breathing fast again, and licked his way down Uryuu's throat. He followed the path down and stopped mid-way to play with nipples. One hand was swiftly toying with one, his mouth was sucking and licking alternatively at the other, and he used his other hand to caress the boy's thigh. The hand wandered up teasingly and finally stopped as Ishida arched his back, gasping as his length was touched.

Ichigo kissed his way further down and eventually reached the hand that was already stroking lightly the hard member, eliciting encouraging groans from above. He looked up to see that Ishida was looking at him through his half-opened beautiful blue eyes, lips slightly parted. He smiled at him and took the tip of the waiting member between his lips. His smile grew broader as Uryuu's head dropped heavily back onto the pillow, groaning loudly something that resembled Ichigo's name.

The redhead pulled away, ignoring the frustrated sound, and opened the tube lying beside him, spreading some of its content over his hands before bending down again. As his mouth continued its ministrations, one hand went down to help and the other went further down, leaving feathery touches over the boy's entrance.

Ishida couldn't help his hips to buck into the hot mouth. By chance, one of Ichigo's hands prevented them to choke the boy. Uryuu fisted his hands in the orange hair and moaned. This caused the Shinigami to groan too, and Ishida could feel the vibrations of his throat. However, the pleasure was short as he felt a finger was pushed inside him. He gasped and his muscled automatically tightened at the intrusion.

Ichigo looked up to study his face and crawled back up to kiss his neck, attempting at making him feel better and relax. He kissed his way up and Uryuu finally relaxed as he was kissed passionately.

As he started moving the finger back and forth, he brushed against something that caused the dark-haired teen to tense under him, crying his name and tightening his hold on the muscular shoulders.

After some careful time to prepare the boy, Ichigo asked if he was okay. Receiving an affirmative nod, he positioned himself, waiting for Ishida to give his approval again before carefully pushing his way in. The face below him surely showed some pain, tears forming between closed lids, but not once he heard words like 'stop' crossing the thin lips – which somewhat relieved him at some point. He stopped nonetheless half-way and captured the boy's lips once again, whispering him softly to relax as he slowly pushed in to the hilt. He waited a moment, fighting his instincts, and concentrated into the demanding kisses until the muscles surrounding him finally relaxed.

He put his arms under the younger boy's knees, pulling them up, and started moving out.

They groaned in unison each other's name as they moved together, picking up their pace. Uryuu was still holding onto Ichigo's shoulders, moaning and gripping each time the Shinigami touched the right spot. Ichigo had buried his head into Ishida's neck, biting and licking to try to stifle his own sounds.

Soon, he felt he was reaching his limits, so he reached between their bodies to stroke the neglected member. They reached climax together, Uryuu in the Shinigami's hand, Ichigo in the Quincy's body, their names echoing in their ears.

Getting out, Ichigo collapsed onto Ishida, both boys trying to regain their breathing.

Eventually they both shifted to their side, still holding onto each other in an agreeable meaningful silence.

_I admit, Aibou. You deserve congratulations there! I'll leave you in peace for now, but keep in mind that it still won't be that easy to win over me for battles! Don't get weak!_

For the moment, as he lay entangled with Uryuu, breathing his scent and listening to his soothing breath, he realised that he didn't care as much as before; as he long as he had the Quincy with him, whatever that thing was, he was sure he would be able to take over anything easily.


End file.
